Sorry Jeff, nothing to do. Thought a crack a few lame ones. I bet a got a smile though.
I’m rather curious about the popularity of blue bug lights here. Both emprical data and research suggest that they would not work, it goes something like this:
Empirical: Mosquitos hunt at night, they use smell to locate prey. They would only fly into the light now and again becuase it happened to be there and they flit around quite a bit. In theory it would work just as well electrified with the lamp turned off.
Experimental: Set a lamp outside at night next to a white sheet. After a while there will be many insects, but not mosquitos, mostly moths.
Experiments were conducted (in the US as I recall) to count the bugs and types that were caught by these devices. About 100 outdoor traps were tested over a month and only a couple of mosquitos were caught, but a lot of other bugs were found. Conclusion of the researchers: These things are more effective against insects that do not harm humans. Using them actually causes environmental damage.
These devices are actually designed to be effective against houseflies, typically in commerical meatpacking facilities. Flies navigate by sight and the light does attract them.
I assume their popularity can be attributed to good marketing.
This topic has already been done to death on Oriented. Mosquitos track carbon dioxide to the strongest source … someone’s face. After that they use primitive vision and heat sensors to land. They then use very sensitive feelers to locate a capillary, and stick their needle mouthpiece in. The swelling and itching arises because of the saliva they inject (which includes an anti-clotting component to keep the blood liquid).
They are not attracted to the UV (blue?) fly killers in any way.
If they track the CO2 from your face why to they always seem to bite my ankles and never my face?
quote:
Originally posted by amos: Sorry Jeff, nothing to do. Thought a crack a few lame ones. I bet a got a smile though. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Oh you got more than a smile here. But I had to read it twice before I got it.
Jennifer
My Taipei Baby
http://mytaipeibaby.tripod.com
We have one of these bug lights in our bedroom but it rarely ever snaps. Makes a good night light though.
Mark, bee careful with the OFF around baby… the last I’d heard, Deet can cause brain damage in kids under five. I use Avon Skin-So-Soft lotion (just regular lotion) and it keeps the mosquitos away.
My husband has passed his mosquito phobia onto the five-year-old so that now he can catch them in midair. Isn’t it amazing when you can smack 'em on the wall and they fall to the floor onto to fly away again?
Jennifer
My Taipei Baby
http://mytaipeibaby.tripod.com
For insect repellent, I only use DEET (n,n-diethyl-meta-toluamide) when I’m out in the woods are there are “extra-strength” mosquitoes around. It is potentially carcinogenic, I think, although approved by the U.S. government. Protection last about 4-6 hours. The American Association of Pediatrics recommends that parents using DEET products on children use products with concentrations from 6 to 10%, and apply it only to children over age 2.
When I am in the city, though, I prefer to use a natural spray that contains geranium oils or citronella. My favorite product b/c of its consistency, ease of use, and scent is Origins Gardener’s Spray. However, I have only found this product in Origins’ boutiques in the U.S. You might want to check the department store counters or their boutique on Zhongxiao East Road, though. I prefer this spray to Burt’s Bees Farmer’s Friend Lemongrass Insect Lotion. There is also Kiss My Face Swy Flotter Natural Tick and Insect Repellent. You can find them in natural foods stores (Whole Foods has an extensive selection) in the U.S. I have seen some natural sprays in similar stores in Taipei.
Magellan’s Travel Store has an excellent article on avoiding mosquito bites:
http://www.magellans.com/content/art_t.jsp?ruleID=86&itemID=68&itemType=ICArticle
quote[quote] If they track the CO2 from your face why to they always seem to bite my ankles and never my face? [/quote]They’re probably fleas.
Bri
Citronnelle oil will keep them away. They hate the smell of it. Only a few places in Taiwan sell it though. Citronnelle candles are also good for burning in your house to keep them away.
Jeff
jeff@oriented.org
First, you can of course use the fan to blow the mosquito away~
Second, do not ever scratch!!! It will give you scar ~
Third, if that really really itch and you couldn’t stand it, put on some water to cold it down, and you will feel better…(I always slap the mosquito bite…it didn’t make it gone, but it did make me not feel itch anymore…because it hurt…and don’t feel itch anymore)
Fourth, if it still itch, put on some “lu you jing” (Green oil something)
Mosquitos do bite the ankles (and hands) more. The reason is they seek out places where the skin is thin.
Bu Lai En good observation. They can follow the CO2 trails from a 100 ms away and fly in the window. When they get close they use their heat seeking sensors to identify where the blood is closest to the surface. You effectively look like rivers of hot lava to a mosquito’s eye, and she wants to get at the hottest, and therefore easiest to reach part. I guess they can tell the difference between an artery and a vein too so the pressure doesn’t blow them up or deflate them or something. They probably have a valve in their proboscis to prevent this.
They bite at the ankles and feet because it is safer for them (far from your hands) ,
the veins are close to the skin and they can probably smell the bacteria on your feet (this is true folks, people have done experiments with blue cheese, they track the gases emitted from the bacteria or in other words the smellier feet the better).
They are amazing animals. There are actually many different types. I find that they seem to be faster and ‘smarter’ here than ones I saw in Australia. There are actually hundreds of
different species. Unlike many other things in Jurassic park, the mosquitoes WERE around at the time of the dinosaurs and before them too. They must be doing something right.
Next time you catch a mosquito look closely at it. You might catch an Asian tiger mosquito (black and white stripes) or a different type. They are famous cos they can carry dengue fever, currently up north from latin America, endemic in these regions. Each species has peculiarities. Some make an amazing amount of noise. Others are like silent killers.
Why they would give themselves away like this is odd. It’s probably because dogs and cats are their usual prey and it doesn’t matter if they make noise so much compared to the trade off of faster wing speed or something.
Other weird facts I notice. They prefer to hunt singly if in a room. As in , I kill one, 20 mins later another one is biting, kill it, 20 mins later another one lands in— weird. Maybe a territorial thing.
They are like little robots. If you swot at one it will make a beeline up or down but in a ‘chaotic flight’ mode which makes it almost impossible to catch the buggers. They also head to the darkest corner of the room.
They stay there until the light is off
More asides. Mosquitoes are highly sensitive to light, otherwise how would they fly to the darkest region of the room then when you chase then. I think that different species have different reactions to light conditions. I guess they have evolved to be attracted to light in urban areas. Therefore I also supposition that those blue light thingies may actually work in Taiwan!!!
There is a way to deal with immune reactions to mosquitoes.
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Try eating garlic.Some people swear that this is an effective deterrent. To everything unfortunately.
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Swedish farmer cure. At the start of summer strip bollick naked and lie out in the middle of a field near a lake for most of the day. You will be bitten only a few hundred times. If you survive this little extremity you will now have developed a tolerance to mosquito saliva for the rest of the season. Itch free and you can swim with all those naked buxom beauties to your heart’s content. This is because your immune system becomes overloaded for their toxin and finally doesn’t recognise it as foreign so you have no allergic reaction. Repeat every year. Ouch!
To catch a mosquito you must confuse it (same with all flies). They have pressure sensors which detect movement towards them . Also when you try and swot them the air current will lift them away from you. That is why the ‘grab and kill’ technique is the local favourite and saves messy blood stains. You must confuse the mosquito by slowly surrounding if from all sides with you hands. My friend swears by letting them get comfortable for 10 seconds and when they are relaxed go for them.
The liquid they sell in the shops here is not to be trusted. I have heard the DEET concentrations approved in Taiwan and developing countries can be up to 10X the amount in the west so be careful when applying it to yourself. You can get toxic reactions if you apply to much to your body at one time. I’m fairly sure at lower concentrations it is a useful alternative for odd usage.
Plus I have used the stuff that vaporises, it always messes my eyes up and weirdly gives me nightmares or strange dreams- it’s a neurotoxin, some of us are more sensitive than others I suppose. Nobody knows the full effects of organophosphates on your body and reproduction.
I don’t use it now. Use a fan or a swotter is the best method I think. I used to have a net over the bed which is ace if the little buggers keep getting in.
I gotta stop now so I can prepare my new National Geographic Special
-‘The Ultimate Vampire, part II’
I’ve also heard, but not tried myself, that vinegar also works. Apply vinegar using a cotton ball, and let it dry. Apparently, the smell evaporates, but the protection stays.
At the very least, it will not be worse than the garlic remedy, and is definitely a lot safer than DEET.
Swedish farmer cure?
This sounds a lot like an urban myth to me. And I thought that Swedish mozzies were neutral and non-aggressive?
Or maybe that should be a rural myth? Actually, it might be true – where I come from, we have these little farkers called midgies, which are like tiny, tiny mozzies but go around in clouds several million strong. They bite like crazy, even on the inside of your windpipe – everywhere.
Sometimes the only way you can go outside is by wearing a stocking over your head.
However, my old man, who’s a fanatical angler and hunter, simply lets them bite him until his whole face is totally swollen up. After that one time, they don’t bother him at all.
I’ve never been able to do it myself, though.
Old Spice
Wolf you are an old cynic.
This is a true story, obviously people don’t in for that stuff as much in the modern age.
It’s based on known ways to gain tolerance by overloading the immune system
Anyone figured out how mosquitoes get through marauding hoards of bats, spider webs, window screens, bug zapping force fields, and mosquito nets?
Force of numbers? I don’t buy it. These are the highly trained, guerilla fighting, Mosquito Special Forces dropped in behind enemy lines in small numbers. Mission parameters: Search and suck – all are expendable. Five of the little bastards chewed up my knuckles last night and I proceeded to scratch what was left of my hands to shreds. I got all five before they could retreat back to the jungle, but the damage was already done. It’s like this every night. Morale is low and I haven’t had a restful sleep in weeks. I’m not sure how much more of this I can take before I snap. There are more bloodstains in my room than in a battlefield hospital. I fear that if I make it back home I’ll lead a tortured life haunted by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I’m sure that my trenches aren’t the only ones to have been breached. Casualties all along the front must be staggering. I’m hoping for suggestions to shore up my defenses, especially during the wee hours of the night when I’m susceptible to sleep-allowing them to get right up on me before I have a chance to fire a shot.
I’m not willing to resort to chemical warfare just yet fearing friendly phosgene and mossi-reciprocity.
Please Advise.
I totally sympathize - I have the same problem. It’s not the biting so much as the noise - that maddening buzzing whine they make as they approach my ear. Or when they brush up against my face. Aarggh! What I do is keep the fan on, with the airstream directed over my head so that they can’t hover. Gets a little chilly on the colder nights, but an extra blanket usually solves that problem.
Had the same problem until i bought a masquito net - that simple.